My career has been a winding path which I feel very fortunate to have taken. After graduating CCNY with a bachelor's in engineering (my most prized degree), I went to N.Y.U. law school. With the civil rights movement in the air, I spent 3 incredibly rewarding months in Mississippi as a civil rights law student. Back in NYC, in the late 60’s I became a criminal defense lawyer with an anti-poverty law program on the Lower East Side, happily in the midst of the political and cultural turmoil of the 60’s. In 1970 I began a three year stint teaching the criminal law clinic at N.Y.U. law school, handling cases with students. After that I quit lawyering for 8 years, and became a teacher in and director of an urban studies in program in the N.Y.U. college. At the same time I studied for and received a doctorate in psychology from the Union Graduate School, and worked half-time as a psychotherapist. After about 8 years, I felt burned out as a teacher so I left N.Y.U., ended my practice as a psychotherapist (it was too sedentary for me) and started a 25 year career as an Assistant Attorney General with New York State. My specialty was overseeing the sale of coops and condos and handling all of the construction defect complaints. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend my entire working life doing interesting, rewarding and very varied work. Eight months ago I retired from the AG’s office and I have been having a great time pursuing hobbies, learning a great deal, doing volunteer work and working a little as a consultant and an arbitrator/mediator.
I am married and have two boys from a previous marriage, aged 23 and 29. My wife is a lawyer with the N.Y.C. Dept. of Health, my older son is a computer wizard of some sort, and the younger one just graduated from Wesleyan and is searching for himself.
(posted on Ollie's behalf by Bob Bein)
